V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N

We are off! Today we are flying out to North Carolina to meet up with the in-law's and family friends. We are spending the 4th of July over at Piney Creek, North Carolina. It has been a tradition for the past 7 years.

I am super excited! I love the fresh air, the scenic views, and the piece and quiet of the mountain! Can't wait to just relax..

I hope everyone has a great 4th of July! Remember those who are fighitng for our freedoms. Without them, we would not be where we are at today.

I will return Sunday with pictures of our trip! Till then, here is a sneak peak:

The Cabin

The view from the street

Friend Makin' Mondays...

Check out: http://kaseyhelder.blogspot.com/

Be part of a Monday ritual! And check it out!

What are you doing this July 4th?

For the past 7 years, I've been going to North Carolina with my lover and his family. His family own a beautiful cabin in Piney Creek. It's the most relaxing place! It is usually a big group who go up, and have a great time just eating, laughing, and enjoying the 4th :) Can't wait for tomorrow..

What is your favorite dish to pass when attending a 4th of July party or summer barbecue?

I usually don't cook for the 4th, but...I love having bbq's with fireworks on the 4th! There is something about having hot dogs & cheeseburgers!

Do you have any July 4th traditions?

Read question #1!

Finally I will leave you with a little Are You Smarter Than A Fourth Grader? trivia.

1. How many stars are on the American Flag?
2. What do they stand for?
3. How many stripes are on the flag?
4. What do they stand for?
5. How many stripes are red?
6. The first stripe is which color?
7. Who sewed the American flag?

I got all of these wrong! Not good!

How about you? Do you know all of these?

Struggle UPDATE!

If you have been reading my blog, you are aware of my recent struggle with the Church.
I am a Catholic, but not a Church going one. Which can be a problem since I am hoping to be married by the Church! Recently I decided to give the Church a chance, to test the waters, and to open my mind.


I went last night to Sunday service with my family. I was shocked with how things have changed. My father had warned me about a particular priest. Apparently he is 83, traditional, and opinionated. I grew up in the Church, but never encountered someone like this. NEVER.


So here are the highlights of Sunday Mass:

• The Priest shushed everyone from the altar.
• He scolded a woman for not wearing sleeves. He asked her not to approach the altar.
• He then went off before communion, and asked all sinners to not approach the altar for communion, then added the rest of the people who have not been married by the Church, and who do not attend mass on a weekly basis to not even bother approaching the altar too.
• After reprimanding the congregation, he went to describe himself as a bee! A bee that has never stung anyone!

I know that there are different ways of looking at this. He has his rights, and I know that some priest are very traditional. There are rules everywhere you might go. BUT you shouldn't demean people or make people feel like they are not "good enough."

This man's word's will lead people to stay away from the Church. People will feel threatened.

Just wanted to reflect on my experience. This does not mean that I will back away from attending Sunday mass. This just means that I will have to try a little harder to understand.

I promise this is the last of my Church posts! I know it's been dragging!

Weekend:

This is what my weekend entailed the following:

After a long day, Lover & I went to eat some yummy burgers at Fuddruckers..YUM!

Later came back to the house for some wine & a movie..

Saturday morning I started on some much needed laundry..

Then headed off to get some coffee..

Afterwards I accompanied my sister to do some shopping for her trip! Lots of great sales!

Took a detour from all the shopping and had a man/pedi! I decided to go for a light color!

(Essie Allure) Definitely recommend..

At the end of the night, I was helping my sister pack for her trip. She had an early flight so she needed all the help in the world!

Sunday morning I headed over to Lover's house to clean the doors, and finish installing the ceiling fans..

Plus Lover installed the curtain rods and (2) of the (4) curtain panels! So far it looks great!

And then finally got some studying done..It's a short school week for me, so I need to make sure I was caught up!

Later on this week is VACATION :)

Struggle.

If you are up to date with my blog, you might have seen my earlier post about my journey to finding a Church for my ceremony. I called at least 8 Church's, and out of those 8 two were cordial with me, and the rest plain out rude. It has been a long time since I've had to deal with the Church. I went to private school my whole life! Literally. Even College! I am up to date with my sacraments, and can still recite all the different prayers word for word. I pray to God every night, and when I am in need of his help. I try to be a good person, and follow the 10 commandments. I'm not perfect, but I try to be the closest possible.

Which brings me to my current situation. I'm planning to get married by the Church. I need to follow a list of requirements to do so. So far I am having a hard time understanding why the church makes it so hard? Why does a priest have to look down at me as if I am Satan? Am I bad person because I do not go to Church? Can he judge me? Should he be allowed to do so?

I Want to get married by the Church, but I do not want to feel that I am a villain in their eyes. So I've decided to follow some advice from a wise man (My father.) I am going to start attending Sunday mass at our local Church. He said that he will introduce me to the priest, and see what happens beyond that. He said I should give the Church a try. Maybe it will give me a change of heart.

I hope he is right...

I will keep you posted on my latest journey.

Embarrassing yet funny..

Funny story..

Yesterday I went to Target to get somethings for my upcoming trip. I needed the usual: tooth paste, shampoo, deodorant, and other things I just can't remember. As I was browsing, I came across a new deodorant that I had never seen. The smell was great, and I was destined to get it! It was called: Degree Classic Romance. It had the smell of perfume! You can't go wrong with that! So I decided to put in my shopping cart, and proceed to check out!

Which brings me to today!! I decided to test it out, and wear it. So I went about my day. Later on I saw Lover, and was excited to tell him about my new deodorant. Mind you, he is used to me and this sort of thing. I told him "Hunni, smell my armpit." He said "Ok." Then he made a weird face, and backed off. Right there I noticed that maybe he didn't like the smell..or maybe that perfume smell did not last!! I was mortified! Better yet embarrassed! We laughed it off, but I have yet been able to forget it! He is still asking me about my new deodorant. Rest assure I went out to my local CVS and purshased my reliable Secret deodorant! lol!

So there you have it! My funny story!!

Yo may ask why is she postig such a story? Well because sometimes you need a good laugh! So there ou have it! Laugh away...

To-Do-List!

One of the scariest things to look at is a To-Do-List!! Why? Because it's a reminder of all the things that you have NOT been done! It shows what a procrastinator I am..So I'm going to make a To-Do-List, and not be scared of it :)



I'm going to step forward, and begin to get myself "wedding organized." I went off to Target last night, and purchased a couple things that I thought would help me with my planning process:



- A binder : So that I can go ahead and file all my paper work, contracts, etc.



- Calculator : For the obvious reasons..Add up numbers :)



- Highlighters/pens/pencils



- Post-it (Pink)


I am sure I am missing things on that list, but for now that's good. I am also going to start playing around with Excel, and start keeping records of all my vendors! I've heard great things about Excel, so that will be an item on my To-Do-List. Maybe my Lover can even help with the department! Being that he is more computer savvy than me!

Obviously I have a lot more..But with time I will have everything in order!

Loving this:

Today is just one of those day's! The weather is rainy + gloomy! It's been raining ALL day, and all I can think of is our upcoming vacation to North Carolina! We are heading up of the 4Th of July! And we are super excited for a mini vacation :)

So in light of the trip, I decided to cheer myself up, and look through one of my favorite sites: polyvore.com! It's basically a web site that you can mix match different designers, stores, and make a collage! You can also find accessories, nail polish, shoes, basically anything! It's like a fashion playground!

Here is somethings that I put together from one of my favorite stores: Forever21!

Next Step!

Many of you may know that I am planning a wedding! So far I have a venue + a groom! (lol) I am currently looking for a Church to hold my ceremony. It has become a MISSION from HELL! Literally. Who knew that finding a Church was going to be so hard. The fact that these Church's (I will not name them) are denying me, making me pay a $10 donation for an application, and telling me "The priest does not have time to marry you," is ridiculous!

I have called 7 Church's. Only 1 has a potential in working out. I'm just turned off! Really! The fact that the Catholic Church holds so much power is a little alarming to me. VENT OVER!!

On a brighter note, I still have hope to find a Church! I'm still on the hunt, and I will not give up..

I will keep you guys posted on my Church related drama!!!!

Week 4 of Weight Loss

I made a promise that I would get back into healthy mode, and start exercising. I have FAILED completely! Not only have I not eaten healthy this past week, but I have not exercised. This is bad. Really bad. I'm finding it hard to get motivated to go to the gym, and to eat healthy. I keep on saying " Tomorrow I will start." If I had a dollar for every time I have said that I'd be a millionaire! (Well not really, but you get the point)

So I've decided to start Weight Watchers. I successfully lost 15 lbs last year with the program, and kept it off . I've just gained 5 pounds since then. I found WW to be a great program. I used the on line version which was the easiest way for me. I would follow a food journal on line, and track my water consumption, and exercise. This method kept me motivated, and I was able to see actual results!

I am hoping that with this push, I can get my head back in the game!

6/22/09: 145.3lbs.

Weekend Recap!

This weekend was a good one! We accomplish a lot in the house, and we are finally seeing the light in the end of the tunnel! I wood floor is completed! It looks beautiful! The wall unit is up, and so is the TV :)

It's finally starting to feel like "home." Plus we were able to sit on our comfy couch, and watch a movie! It felt great! Also, this week our curtain arrive! So that will complete the living room! Can't wait :)

On another note, I was viciously attack by mosquito's! Yes. Mosquito's! Summer time in Florida has it's downsides. Because it rains so much, the mosquitos tend to come out in a large brigade! Well I was attacked! So My Sunday remedy is Caladryl + Benedryl! Hopefully the bites will go away soon! My sister and I counted, and I have about 70 bites!! Just on my legs!

Does anyone have any other treatments?

Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to everyone! I hope you all enjoy this day with the one's you love!

Ceremony=Church

It's almost been a week since we secured our date, and signed our contract with The Westin Colonnade! Now it's time to search for a church! It is important for us, and our families that we have a religious ceremony, and complete the sacrament of marriage.

Luckily both Lover and I have all of our sacraments! So I decided to make a list of church's that are close tho our venue, with an exception to one.

St. Peter & Paul

St. Patrick's Cathedral

St. Hugh

Immaculate Conception

Church of the Little Flower

I will keep you posted! I am planning bombarding all these church's with my phone calls :)

We found...

The hardest thing so far has been finding curtians for our living room. We were looking for Grommet panel (big circles on the top). After searching through various stores, we finally found it!! We decided on (2) panels like this:

And (2) panels for the inside in the cloud color:

The total amount of panels was (4) and we decided it would look much better if we used a mix of these two styles. The sliding door itself is humangous! So we were happy to find a solution there :)

We also decided on a TV stand! Well sorta! (lol) We ventured of to IKEA this past weekend, and were looking for some ideas for the living room, and TV. We found this cool wall unit:

It looks similar to this. We decided to get the (4) sections on the top, and the bottom is (4) floating sections. The bottom piece is open for now. We are considering adding drawers, but still pondering it!

So you can have an idea, this is the couch:

Now put it all together! How beautiful the living room will be looking :)

FINALLY...

My Lover decided he wanted a grill! What house isn't complete without one! Welcome the new addition..

More to come..

Real Housewives of New Jersey

What a finale!! Scandalous does not even begin to describe these ladies! I love reality TV, so this was a piece of cake for me!

I've been chronicling every season of the Housewives. From the OC, to Atlanta to New York! I love them all! But this season was the CRAZIEST one! I mean, compare to the rest, these women were opposite of classy. They were obnoxious, fake, hypocrites, and just all out rude!

Now did I enjoy it? YES. Was it filled with drama? YES. Did it make great TV? YES. Am I looking forward for another season? YES!

It's OFFICIAL!!

Lover and I have set a date for our wedding!! We will be getting married March 13, 2010! We will be having our reception at the beautiful Westin Colonnade in Coral Gables! And will be using the Rotunda room! Here are some pictures:

Photo credit: knottie YHFoxtrot

We have many options when it comes to lighting, draping, florals..It's a a great space to work with, and transform into a dream reception! Next we have to book the church!!! So stay tuned for that!!

Week 3 of Weight Loss

This is how I feel this week:

I am not going to weigh myself this week, because I think it's going to be painful! (lol) I have neglected all types of exercise, and have been eating like a savage. Literally! So with that said, this weeks "Week 3 of Weight Loss" will be short! Today is Monday, and I will attempt to do some type of cardio to get back in the game..

Friend Makin' Mondays...

I have been following this blog for the past two weeks: http://kaseyhelder.blogspot.com/

I'm loving her Monday posts! So today's task is Confessions! Spill your guts!

1. I own a Go Phone! Yes..No iPhone, no blackberry. Although I have At&t service, I refuse to be in touch with the world..

2. My local Starbucks knows me by my 1st name..

3. I wash my hair once a week..I have too much hair!

4. When I'm stressed, I pull hair our of my head..I've been notified that it is a disorder (thanks Cristina)

5. I am terrified about starting my wedding planning..

6. I am OCD!

7. I watch John & Kate Plus 8! There is something about those kids..

8. I'm a weight watcher drop out!

9. I still watch Jessica Simpson + Nick Lachey Newlyweds Series on dvd!

10. I don't have myspace/facebook..People find that odd! (lol)

I hope everyone enjoys my "confessions."

Did you know...

Did you know that the coupons for Bed Bath and Beyond do not expire??

I recently found out, and was SHOCKED! Because I've been throwing them away, every time they expire! That means tat I could have had hundreds of them saved by now. Also, that you can use (1) coupon per item. I did not know that either! So on a brighter note, I have contacted my grandmother, neighbors, to save these coupons for me! We need as many as possible inroder to purchase small things for the house.

On a brighter note! All the wedding magazines I have been collecting this past year can come to great use! They all have a Bed Bath and Beyond coupon :)

New Look?

So lately I feel that I've been in a slump! With school, home improvements, and a lack of "me" time, I feel blah! I feel like I need to update my look! Better yet, make some hair changes! My hair is currently long and dark brown with a hint of some light tones. Maybe a change will be good?? Maybe a cut? or a lighter color??

Here are some styles that I love:

Can you tell I'm a Jessica Simpson fan? I love her as a brunette! I love the different styles she has used throughout the years. Maybe I can incorporate something like this on my hair? Maybe I can do some highlights like these:

Obviously I can't do a major change i.e a cut. I have a upcoming wedding, and need to keep me hair at a comfortable length! So we will see! I'm going to work on that "change." Let's see how gutsy I will be!

How I feel...

Today is one of those days that I am in desperate need of this:

I'm sleepy, moody, and unable to function! This past week in a half has been hectic. My agenda is overcapacity! I have so much to do, but no time/energy! This week I have a couple of deadlines which I am not even close to completing. I'm hoping to take a break from the moving/home improvements today, and getting some things accomplished.

Week 2 of Weight Loss

There is not much to report this week! I weighed myself, and I am still the same weight I was last week! Maybe because the little cardio I did was not enough. Also, all the junk food that I have been eating this week has inhibited my weight loss.

Hopefully after this whole moving/home improvement, I can get back to my regimen!

But for now, these are my stats for the week!

6/8/09: 143.8lbs.

Friend Makin Monday...

One of the blogs that I follow: http://kaseyhelder.blogspot.com/ is doing the following posts every Monday. So I have decided to join!!

This week's task is to tell us 10 things you love about summer!!!

1. Beach weekends

2. Tanning

3. Summer shopping

4. BBQ's

5. July 4th in North Carolina

6. End of Summer A (school)

7. Sunsets

8. Girls night out

9. Summer movies

10. Daiquiris

Try this:

Summer is here, and that means that it's time to change up the wardrobe, and wear less than usual! Being a Florida resident, it's like this year round, but because of the stormy weather in the afternoons, and the lack of time to go to the beach, you are faced with finding another solution for looking bronze for the summer.


Here is my solution:

This Jergens cream works wonders! Which can be found in any store. Not only does it give you a subtle tan, but it also moisturizes your skin. Leaving you with a nice glow, and soft skin.

Directions for using this product is easy! Just make sure the following:

-You buy the appropriate cream for your skin tone.

-Use it once/twice a week.

-Always wash your hands after using this cream; you want to avoid orange hand/nails.

-Make sure to use the designated Jergens cream for your face. There is a specific one that can be used.

I hope this can be something that can bring a glow to your life...

Weekend Recap...

This weekend was basically all about the following:

Lots of progress had been made in the house. The painting is pretty much done, the wood floor is coming along nicely. By the end of the week it should be done :) All in all things are moving smoothly..Soon we will able to display the couch and dinning room table! Can't wait!



On the wedding side, I was not able to meet Thursday with the coordinator for The Jungle Island. On that note, I am meeting with The Westin Colonnade this week, to go over some last minute things..



Also on Thursday, I accompanied a good friend of mine to visit a photographer by the name of Studio by Carmen. I was blown away by her! She and her husband were very welcoming, and great people. I loved looking through all her photos, and albums. She is incredibly talented! I am definitely putting her down on my photography list!



The summary of this weekend was basically lots of house work! But can't complain! The finish product will be the result of hard work :)

What's on the agenda:

I usually write down on my agenda all the tasks that I want to complete for the day/week. This week has been a little like this:

I have deadlines at school, plus I've been making appointments with other wedding venues. I've decided to look at a couple more places before making a decision. So with that being said, I have an appointment today with another location: Jungle Island. I'm hoping to gather some information on their packages, and add it to the other nominees! I'll make sure to report back feedback on my venture!

Other things that are in my agenda are: Painting, cleaning, laundry, picking out pillows, and other things that can't remember now, but will definitely remember later!!

Updates!

Yesterday was an exciting day! My sister and I visited a potential venue: The Westin Colonnade in Coral Gables. It was breathe taking. From the moment we got there, we were awed! We met with the Director of Catering, and from there is lead us on a tour of the premises. We viewed (2) spaces for the wedding reception. The first one was the Rotunda. Only one word can describe this space: B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L! Then we saw The Merrick Ballroom which had a elegant ballroom look. Both spaces had their pros and cons. We went over all the details with the Director of Catering, and were able to come up with options to work with our budget.

All in all it was a great meeting. I am grateful for my sister for coming along, and helping me. I was completely overwhelmed, and she noticed and stepped in! I am hoping to visit again on Saturday to show Lover, and then make a decision. Obviously we have other places in mind. Hopefully by the next couple of weeks, our selections will be narrowed down...

But for now, I leave you with pictures from yesterday's visit! Courtesy of my sister!